Let Snow Fall where it may Bloom
by Hawkflight7
Summary: It's Christmas time! Which means presents, and more importantly a rather special gift for one girl in particular. - continuing from one shot
1. Chapter 1

_Let Snow Fall where it may Bloom_

**Hi! Yes I'm doing it! Rachel and Tom fluffness! seriously there is no rated T or below story for them yet only two M's. It's kinda sad. I contributed one of those. This is obviously for the holidays! It's also a one-shot. Unless of course multiple people tell me to continue. But for now I have nothing in mind for a sequel. Plus I'm hyper after reading some really strange things. hmmm something about potter being mexican... Anyways! Lights! on! Cameras! on! Everything else i'm to lazy to write individually! on!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Animorphs. If I did obviously something bad would have happened to the world, aka: taken over by yeerks.**

**Thank you for your time in reading this.**

The car pulled up into my cousin's driveway and I quickly jumped out of the car as my mom shouted after me, "Don't forget to bring in the presents from the trunk kids!"

Right. Let's do that first. Sarah and Jordan exited the car after me as I popped thr trunk of the car open and started to grab presents.

Well, here seems like a good a time as any for introductions.

Hello, my name is Rachel. I can't tell you my last name because then the Yeerks would find me and my friends and then there would be no hope left on the planet for the human's survival or should I say capture. Oh, you don't know about the Yeerks? Well there a small parasite species that goes through an ear canal to get into the victims brain. Once there they control your body, after connecting themselves to it of course.

Now that was a bit of a rush on things. But you should get the whole point: I'm an Animorph and we fight the Yeerks to save our world from becoming slaves to them.

But enough of introductions. It's Christmas after all.

I walked up to the house nudging the door open with my foot so I could slip in. My little sisters followed me closely until I set the gifts near a lit up Christmas tree, to which they followed suit before running off. I smiled. It was nice you know. Having a family get together. A warrior needs a break sometimes. My cousin's mom walked into the room, glancing at the tree and presents before her eyes settled on me.

"Hi Rachel. It's so good to see you again! Jake and Tom are somewhere upstairs."

"Thanks, Auntie." I said as I took off my black high heels before sprinting up the steps only stopping in the hall for a moment before approaching Jake's room.

I knocked and there was a muffled, "Come in."

I swung open the door and walked into the room, glancing around it. Not much had changed. "Hey, Jake." I said, watching him as he looked in a mirror and played with his bow tie. "Need help, again?" I asked, rather amused by it. I was definetly in the lovely Christmas spirit.

Jake sighed in defeat. "Yeah. I really do."

I laughed and stepped forward to fix it. Once done Jake glanced once more in the mirror. "Can't believe we had to dress up for this." he said, eyes on his black suit, with the white undershirt, and red bow tie.

"It seems weird. Doesn't it?" I asked standing next to him, I looked myself over aswell. Been awhile since I had worn a dress, and this one had multiple black straps around my shoulders to keep it up. Then it changed to a soft violet color that went a few inches past my knees, with a black sash around the middle.

"Very." he glanced over at me. "I'll see you downstairs?"

I nodded then couldn't resit adding, "Nice tie." I left the room as I heard him laugh and made my way down the hall before stopping in front of another door. I stared at the wood for a moment my hand hesitant to knock but after another second I thought, why the hell not? Tom was my cousin too, just because he was a controller-a person with a yeerk in his head-didn't mean I couldn't wish him a happy Chistmas. I raised my hand and knocked. The door swung open and I had to look up slightly to see Tom's face. "Hey there." I said.

He seemed confused for a second then nodded. "Hey Rachel." He stepped back into his room and glanced around it before looking back at me. "Why don't you come in?"

After a moment's pause I allowed myself to walk in. Tom's room was less like a teenage's boys. Kinda the opposite of Jake's. Nothing was on the floor, everything was tidy, and neat. I won't say I wasn't surprised. "Nice." I commented.

"Say Rachel," he began and I turned to watch him as he closed his door. "can we talk before the dinner?"

A million questions popped into my head. "Sure. What about?"

"Nothing important. Just a christmas gift."

"Is it for a relative?"

"Yes... and no."

I frowned at him. "I'm pretty sure if a relative is a relative they stay that way Tom."

"Maybe." he said. Which I began to ponder at as he started rooting around for something in a drawer. "Oh." he said as his hand seemed to curl around something. "Can you close your eyes?"

My brow raised slightly before I obliged. "Yeah I can." I said as all I saw was darkness now. "By the way, do I know the person?"

"Very likely." he responded and I could hear him moving around the room. There was a pause in the noise. "Could you step back for a moment?" I gave a nod of my head and stepped back a few times until my back was on the wooden door to the hallway. "Thanks." Tom said as he rooted through what I guessed to be his desk.

"No problem." I replied.

The noise continued for perhaps half a minute before it fell quite again for the most part. "I think that's all of them."

"Tom?" I questioned. "Did you forget to put the presents you got for everyone under the tree?"

"All but one." he replied. There was another slight shifting sound as if he was arranging the presents he had found scattered around the room. Maybe it wasn't as clean as I had frist thought.

"What one?" I asked curious.

"You peeking at all?"

I smiled, eyes still firmly shut. "Of course not."

"Good." I heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and wondered if he had fogotten to wrap mine or something else like that. Why else would he make me close my eyes? "Stay still, okay?" I grinned in a way to tell him okay. Fingers threaded through my hair, pulling a part back until i felt a piece of metal slip in. I wondered lightly what the hair piece looked like. "One more thing." he said, his voice sounded soft yet also loud at the same time. Must still be close, messing with the piece or something. His breath floated over my face as his fingers began to run down through my hair checking that it was in the hair piece. His hand settled on my shoulder. I was about to ask if he was done so I could see it when I felt lips being pressed to mine.

My eyes snapped open to meet his closed lids. His teeth ran over my upper lip as shock ricotted through me. I opened my mouth to speak and his tongue slipped in to run over my own. "T-" I managed before he bit gently on my lower lip, pulling at it. "oh." I moaned softly, eyes closing again. My hands rose from my side to run up his arms until they met behind his neck, drawing him closer. He pressed his lips harder against mine in response. The kiss only lasted for a couple more seconds, then he broke away. I opened my eyes to see him smiling.

"You like your present?" He held up a mirror for me to see.

"umm." My eyes took in the piece in my hair, a sparkling white in the shape of a snowflake. "yes." I said hesitantly. He was acting as if he hadn't just kissed me. I felt lightheaded.

"Good." he was still smiling. "Should we go down to the dinner then?"

"That'd be great" I said, turning and walking out his room down the steps to the main floor where the kitchen would be.

**Did ya like it? Think it weird? State your opinion please by reviewing.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Let Snow Fall where it may Bloom - 2**

**Hi again! I know I said this would be a one-shot but I realized I wanted to look more into the relationship of this pairing. So after some long thinking and planning I got a plot to work with that I think you all will enjoy.**

**Now I realize that a Tom x Rachel pairing isn't something normal here but more of a brand new concept and pairing, but you just might like it once you give it a chance. Like you did with other out of the ordinary pairings. So please look at this story then give a clear opinion. Criticism will be accepted in reviews while Flames will be used to cook my damned chicken (before you ask, I can tell the difference between them). If you want to say you love it, that's great. If you want to say you hate it give me a solid reason.**

**For those of you that reviewed before I plan on personally responding to you soon.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs**

**Chapter 2: Translucent Moon **

I breathed in and out slowly, my chest rising and falling steadily, as my heart beat like a jackhammer.

I was staring at Tom in front of me as he had me backed against the door. His hand reached behind me. Click. It was locked. With a simple twisting motion my world seemed to shatter around me. Like panes of glass, but they all reflected a face back at me.

Tom.

He was leaning forward, taking care with the approach. I dug my fingers into the wood behind me. A simple tightening on my wrists reminded me of his hand restricting my arms. I tried to move my gaze to the lock. I knew it was on the door and not far away but an exact location would be nice. Reassuring at the least, and a great benefit if he would loosen his grip for even a second.

That's all I needed. A single second. That may sound like a bluff but it's not. Tom's not as strong as he used to be when he played basketball. I could break the grip easily, then unlock the door with a turn of the pinkie, and be out. It was simple. Yet it seemed impossible.

His eyes stared down into my own and a knot twisted in the pit of my stomach. What was he thinking? I couldn't read into his soul through his eyes and his expression showed nothing. Emotionless. I was now aware that the knot in my core was fear. If my body could, it would stiffen up like a scared rat facing a ferocious snake.

There was one problem with all of this. I couldn't move.

His face moved closer.

My heart beat louder.

He must hear it. No way he couldn't.

His lips claimed mine then.

I screamed.

The sound that tore up from my throat jolted me from the nightmare. I sat up, gasping for breath. My mind was swimming.

Just a dream. That's all it was I told myself.

The door creaked open and I spun around. The shadow looming from the door way entered the room as I swallowed down the bile in my throat.

"Rachel?"

I let out a breath. "Mom."

There was a tilt of the bed as she sat on the edge. "I heard you scream. What's wrong?"

I gazed toward her. Thankful that I could now control myself. "Just a nightmare." I murmured. Her hand moved through my hair, now tangled instead of silken smooth. I must have been twisting and turning all over in my sleep.

I heard my mother sigh. "Of course it was. Listen Rachel, if you need to see somebody because of all this trouble sleeping I can get help for you-"

"No." I said quickly, grabbing onto her arm. "I'll get over it soon." I didn't want to burden my mother. She already did more than enough. Besides taking me to a sleep professional wouldn't help. I would find new nightmares. I always did. I knew this for a fact, because of this being the first one with Tom.

"Okay." She kissed the top of my head. "Goodnight."

Once she had left the room I closed my eyes, throwing the calm demeanor out the window.

Why hadn't it been a dream? Or even a normal nightmare?

My mind flew back to the memory of yesterday. Christmas. Tom had kissed me, in his room after giving me the hair clip. I opened my eyes staring at the ceiling as the shock rolled over me once again. He had surprised me all right, and then acted like nothing had happened.

I clawed at the memory, searching for loose threads. I found none. He had kissed me without explanation. Like the few hours before, I didn't know what to think. My first response was to ignore it, but now it was eating away at me like some sort of disease. Why? I almost screamed again but in frustration. With a bite at my fingers I stopped myself. Maybe the Yeerk wanted to know what a kiss felt like. I grabbed at it, toying with the idea. I just wanted a reason, it didn't have to be a good one.

With a sigh I rose from the bed, rather content now. I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind. It had only happened once anyways. Once it repeated I could freak out more if I liked I decided.

I glanced at the clock, it read 6 A.M. in bright blue colors. I had changed it from the red months ago. I saw enough blood as it was.

After a quick shower I was standing in the middle of my room. Naked. The window was open. I began to morph. My skin crawled as the design spun its way onto my skin, like a whole body tattoo. A moment later and the drawing of feathers became three dimensional. Some minutes more and the change to bald eagle would be done.

I flapped my strong wings once, testing it out before I hopped onto the windowsill and soared out the window.

I made my way to Cassie's barn, using the few thermals I passed to raise myself higher. To put distance between me and my troubles. It doesn't matter I told myself. Hell, maybe he had been drunk.

With something more plausible I landed on the cool packed ground of dirt outside the wooden structure. Once I had morphed back to my own body with the curve grabbing attention of the skin tight leotard I passed the doors to plop down on a bale of hay.

"Good timing Rachel." Marco commented. His hand was up and ready for a high five. I didn't humor him.

Instead my gaze went to Jake. "So what's the plan?" I asked.

"It's changed." he stated, eyes moving around the room to make sure everyone was listening. The air became heavy, bearing down on me with the weight of apprehension. "Tobias spotted Hal talking with Chapman." My blood ran cold. Hal was the same age as us and also a friend of mine in the peaceful years of kindergarten. We had just recently found that she was a controller, with a high rank and assigned some task that Erik said had to do with extermination of us, the Animorphs.

I said nothing to the news, obviously it was more than just a small chat that had passed between the two. Jake looked worried even now as he continued. "She suspects that the Andalites are hiding in plain sight as humans. That with all the attacks in this area maybe even hiding in the school." He appeared to become more professional suddenly. "I know I said we would follow Hal to her meeting today, but she didn't only speak with Chapman. She was seen with five others as well. Tobias will keep an eye on Hal she hasn't suspected that we are on to her yet."

His gaze rested on Marco and I found myself glancing out of the corner of my eye at him. "Marco will follow Mrs. Chapman. She might talk about the task to another controller." He turned to my best friend, the girl we all knew he secretly loved. "Cassie, you'll watch for Kim, she frequents the park."

Cassie nodded and moved towards a cage with a squirrel resting inside.

I closed my eyes as he told Ax to follow another woman by the name of Ezrelda. When he called mine I opened my eyes reluctantly. "Rachel, I want you to keep an eye on Mr. Chen. He'll be going into a building for a meeting but it shouldn't be hard to blend in. There's a formal party going on, take advantage of it." The plan striked me as something from a spy movie. I gave a nod, consenting with it.

"I'll follow Tom figure out where he is going and see what he knows." He took in the small army in front of him. The front lines of this war. "If you find out anything we'll meet early again tomorrow." He left hurriedly.

I bit at my lip as everyone else began leaving until it was just Cassie and me. When I caught her eyes she looked worried. "Do you think it's okay for Jake to look after Tom?" she said.

Honestly I liked this setup. Better Jake deal with his brother than me. "It's fine Cass. He can come up with some excuse of missing hanging out with him if he does notice him. The yeerk won't see through it." I knew what Cassie meant when she asked the question. She wanted me to tail him instead, I wasn't in the mood for doing a favor just because Cassie was worried about Jake getting emotional in the I'm-going-to-free-him-tonight sort of way.

Cassie was somewhat silent before she made another question. "You okay?"

Was I that obvious? Then again this is Cassie she can always tell when somethings wrong. "Fine." I lied knowing she saw through it but not one to push she didn't say anything further on the topic. "I'll see you tomorrow. Got to go play dress up." I said before leaving.

Once I was at my house again I went through my closet. It didn't take long for me to pick out a long silver dress that would bloom around me as long as a single foot if I spun. I stepped into it and pulled the back zipper up. My hands snatched the matching high heels from their unopened box and I slipped into them. After a second of staring in the mirror I got out a black hair tie with a silver flower on one end. I arranged the ponytail so that the flower was on top and hid the black string from view mostly. With a quick addition of black eyeliner with sparking silver eyeshadow and a faint pink lipstick I was done. I scrubbed at my hands till I heard a sharp rasp on my window.

I spun around heart beating full throttle as I made my way to the window. A red tailed hawk sat there eyeing me.

"Hi Tobias." I said smiling feeling better now that I was able to talk to him.

{Hello Rachel. Jake wanted me to tell you the the meeting is at a hotel called Quin Serbre... and you look amazing.}

I grinned. "Jake told you to say all that?"

His feathers ruffled. {Not the last part.}

I laughed at his small discomfort from the tease. "Thanks."

{I have to get going. Promise me you'll be careful? I know you will be, but were hardly separated like this for missions.}

I couldn't read his emotions as he had no way of showing them as a bird but I could still tell he was genially worried about me. "I'll be fine, Tobias." I smiled to reassure him. "You be careful too."

{I will.} he replied then his wings flapped and he was gone.

My smile cracked. I wished so much that we could be a normal couple yet it was obvious that wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Still if he had morphed to human form for an instant I would have liked to give him a kiss. Show him how I felt for him. I turned from the window, disturbed and grabbed a small upper black jacket, pulling it on as I made my way outside the house.

I didn't want to think about kissing anymore as the memory of Tom floated back to the surface. I had imagined for a couple seconds that it was Tobias from my fantasy of him still being a human and not my cousin. I shook my head, chasing the thoughts away. Focus on the task at hand Rachel.

I walked out of the neighborhood in my get up, not caring at the looks I got. Once in town there were some whistles but again I ignored them until I came to  
>the five star hotel. I checked over myself in a department store window and began walking forward confidently as if I was suppose to be here.<p>

The door man hardly spared me a glance and ushered me inside. I smiled politely and said a thank you.

Once inside I made my way to the ballroom. I spotted Mr. Chen easily but stayed away for now. Instead I walked over to where the drinks were as I looked around. The ceiling was sloped high, crystal chandeliers dangling from their chains. The colors of the room were simple and varying shades of cream, with grey and red etched in here and there. I turned my attention to the people on the floor. Most were talking while a few couples danced to a slow song.

I bit at my lip. If only Tobias could be here. I sighed. After the war. Hopefully it came soon.

"Hey, doll."

My head snapped around to see a guy standing next to me. "Go away." I snapped. I was on a mission didn't need someone else who had obviously snuck in with just a tux messing it all up.

The guy frowned. "Don't be like that. Come on and dance with me. We can get to know each other." he smiled flirtatiously.

I raised my brow slightly. "I already said no."

"I believe you meant yes." I scowled. You would think the guy would try this crap with a more willing participant. "Come on." he added, reaching out a hand for mine.

"No." I repeated, making sure it was loud and clear as I moved my hand away.

My skin tingled a moment later as a hand engulfed my own. I blinked in surprise as a voice said, "There you are." My body seemed to freeze in place as Tom continued smoothly. "I've been looking for you." I turned my head slightly to see my cousin looking at the guy in front of me with distaste. "This way Rachel."

In the next moment I was being dragged away from the random guy and his stolen tux from a parents closet.

My feet barely kept up with Tom's pace as he lead me out a side door into a secluded hallway. I slowly came to my senses as he let my hand go. Normally I would say something such as a traditional thank you but after the events of yesterday I was practically speechless. That's also when I got the insane notion to ask about it.

"We need to talk." I blurted out. Thinking he might walk away at any moment I said the rest quickly. "About yesterday. It's not normal behavior for you." He turned his head away. "Look the point is..." I trailed off, how did I go about this without showing I knew of the yeerk in his head? "Are you on drugs or something to make you... delusional?" I was aware that my speech was rather all over the place but I didn't care I wanted-no needed-a response. I looked at him, he didn't seem to be paying any attention to me. "Tom?"

When his eyes met mine I took a step back, overtaken by the pure emotional turmoil I saw there. He stepped closer to me, hands going to grasp at my shoulders. I tensed under his grip not sure what to do. His head came down to rest near my shoulder, his breath tickled my ear as he spoke. "It is normal behavior, Raych." I calmed at the nickname from when we hung out as kids out of instinct. Everything after that I didn't expect. "Why shouldn't I kiss you? Besides you participated in it. To answer your question, I have two mentality drugs." There was a pause, when I started turning my head his hand raised to stop it. "One harmful and another for a cure. Now, if you could be so kind."

His hand tipped my head back. My heart began to hammer in my chest. Was he-? His lips brushed mine, "No." I put my arms up but they were quickly brought to my sides.

"Please Rachel." his pleading words blended with my own non-consenting ones and I found myself stopping. "Help me."

My breath was caught in my throat as he leaned closer. I wanted to help him. I wanted to rip the yeerk out of his head, to squish it under my foot, know for sure that it was dead. That he could finally be himself again. Hope clawed at my insides. "Do you remember the swing set?" I asked.

_I could still remember that day from what seemed so long ago. My cousins and me had been drunk. Jake had been retching into a trash can as I sat on a swing set for a few moments before falling off backwards, my legs suspended in the air, tangled in the swing chains. Tom had been laughing at us both, a bottle held in his hands. He came closer to me, tilted the bottle back, draining the rest. A second later he was sitting there as I leaned on my elbows to sit up. He had leaned over me and opened his mouth over mine that had been drinking in the air when liquor began running down my throat instead. The transition had lasted for a few seconds. My mind was in a weird place, floating like. I ran my tongue over my lips, tasting the remains of liquor. Gaze turning toward Tom I pushed up, lips brushing his as my tongue ran along soaking up the tangy taste. He had looked bewildered and I slumped back down to the ground with a drunk giggle. "I think I've had too much."  
><em>  
>"Yes. I remember." his breath was warm on my face, delving into the crook of my neck. I shivered unintentionally. "I've never forgotten." A dull thump echoed in my ears. "I never did get enough of that night." it occurred to me that the thumping was my heart.<p>

I remembered something just as he was about to press his lips back against mine. "Jake." Fear came over me. Where was he? Had he heard any of it? He had never mentioned if he would use a morph or not. I felt panic rising inside me. I needed to find Mr. Chen! "I have to get back to the party." I raised my arms and pushed him away. Had I really just been about to let him kiss me because of one drunken night?

I began to move around him when he grabbed my wrist. I didn't protest as I was lead back through the side door into the party. I didn't realize just how worried I was of being discovered with Tom when I spotted Jake searching the crowds around him. I let out a sigh of relief. It's fine. I told myself. Everything is fine.

Mr. Chen. My gaze swept over the room frantically a few times before I saw him talking to a group of people.

I turned to Tom but was lost for words.

"See you around, Raych." he said before walking away towards Jake who was beginning to look this way.

I ducked behind a pillar and counted till ten before I skirted the other side and made my way to Mr. Chen.

I stayed close enough to listen to his conversation the rest of the night. Bits and pieces seemed interesting from time to time.

"That's no good." a woman said frowning, "It needs to be up and running in a few days."

"No, she said in a week." another man was saying.

"Half of that week has passed." replied Mr. Chen.

Little things like that picked my interest just before the subject was changed. It was as if they were nervous of somebody listening in. Which I was but hey, shouldn't they go somewhere private if they really thought someone might know what they were talking about? Yeah I was listening in and only had a clue, didn't actually know if I was right or not.

"You need to check the progress."

"The progress is fine." Mr. Chen said sounding annoyed. "There haven't been any problems with the drug's development."

Drug? Maybe Erik would know more about that.

The clock hit a later time as I stood around and allowed for a dance partner every once and awhile. I could feel my body beginning to just want to shut down. I took a swing of alcohol from an abandoned glass before heading for the door.

I was walking down a sidewalk of a mostly empty street when I felt my head begin to fog. Was I really that sleepy? I turned off the sidewalk into a park and slumped against a tree. For the next few minutes I swam in and out of consciousness. My hands gripped at the trunk feeling bits of bark stick into my skin and extract a few drops of blood each time. I finally lost my hold on the tree and slid down it, my hands scaring slightly. My breath became heavy as my lids closed. Perhaps I shouldn't have stayed so long.

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


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